Why am I Cold?
by BrookeZephyrFennex
Summary: Wish Cow Malfoy, daughter of Scorpius and Rose Malfoy, is accidentally transported 80 years back in time the day before she is meant to leave for Hogwarts. She appears in an empty compartment on the Hogwarts Express in the year 1991, the year her grandparents arrive at Hogwarts for the first time.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all related characters, spells, names, plots, and settings are the property of J. K. Rowling and Warner Brothers.

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Wish Cow Malfoy had been sitting in a perfectly normal chair in a perfectly normal room in Malfoy Manor when she was sent back in time.

She had merely been thinking about how she would like to meet her great-grandparents. Her grandparents always said they'd been bad, well the ones on her paternal grandfather's side, at least. Especially her great-grandfather. Wish had only wanted to see if they were as bad as everyone said they were.

Now she was sitting in an otherwise empty compartment on the speeding Hogwarts Express, heading towards Hogwarts, and her doom. She knew her grandparents, Draco Malfoy and Ron and Hermione Weasley—no—Hermione Granger. They wouldn't be married yet. Wish's head was nearly spinning. She shouldn't be here. She wouldn't even be born for about another 80 years. Her _parents_ weren't even born yet. Wish paced the length of the compartment, hoping her parents and brothers weren't worrying about her.

The train's brakes squealed and Wish followed the other first years to the boats, trying to blend in. She ended up being stuck in a boat with three abhorrently chatty girls who Wish assumed would be sorted into Hufflepuff. Oh no. Sorting. Wish wouldn't be in the school registry. Would she get sorted? What if everyone thought she was a stray Muggle when her name wasn't called? _If_ her name wasn't called. _Be optimistic, Wish,_ she told herself. Perhaps she should try talking to—wait, who was the headmaster in this time period? _Oh, right. That one that Uncle Albus is named after. His last name was Dumbledore, wasn't it?_

"What house do _you_ think you'll be sorted into,— what was your name again?" asked one of the chatty girls, interrupting Wish's important thoughts.

"I don't know," she responded distractedly.

"You don't know your own _name_?" another of the chatty girls said as the three of them burst into high-pitched giggles which seemed to shred Wish's brain. _I wonder if we're allowed to swim to Hogwarts,_ Wish thought.

Finally they reached the gates of Hogwarts. Wish leaped off the boat as though the boat had grown spines and soon lost herself in the crowd, far away from the chatty dunderheads. She meandered her way through the hordes of incessantly nattering first years until she reached a tall, imposing woman.

"Excuse me, ma'am," Wish said.

The woman turned around. "First years are to wait in the hall until we're ready for the sorting ceremony, miss—I don't believe I know your name," she said.

"Yes, about that. I'm not actually supposed to be here. I was wondering if I could perhaps talk to the headmaster. I'm from the future, you see, and I'm sure my parents are going to be—"

"The future, you say?"

"Yes, and if you need proof, I can tell you what house Draco Malfoy, Ron Weasley, Hermione W—Granger, Neville Longbottom,—"

The woman's eyes widened with each name Wish spoke, until she interrupted. "Come. We're going to see the headmaster." She grabbed Wish's hand and strode purposefully towards Dumbledore's office. "Liquorice Wand," she said on reaching the gargoyle, which moved aside at the password. She pulled Wish up the spiral stairs and raised her hand to knock on Dumbledore's door. The door opened before she could knock, and Severus Snape stepped out silently. He paused, glancing down at Wish before nodding once in acknowledgement of Professor McGonagall and leaving.

"Ah, what can I do for you, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, closing his office door behind them. "And who is this young lady?"

"She claims to come from the future and has not told me her name," said McGonagall. "She requested to see you. Now, if you will excuse me, I have some first years to deal with." She left the office, closing the door firmly behind her.

Dumbledore stared at Wish. "The future, hm. Well, sit down." He conjured up a comfy-looking chair and Wish sat hesitantly.

"I'm telling the truth, sir," she said softly, "I really am from the future."

"I don't doubt it," said Dumbledore gently. "Will you tell me your name? I think it best to just sort you along with the other first years. You haven't been sorted yet, have you?"

"No. My first day at Hogwarts would have been tomorrow if I hadn't been sent back in time," said Wish. "My name is Wish Cow Malfoy."

Dumbledore chuckled. "What has the world come to in the future for a Malfoy to have a name like that?"

Wish glared at him, merely causing Dumbledore to chuckle further. "You should hear my brothers' names if you want weird names," she muttered.

Dumbledore took her by the hand and escorted her back to the front entrance just in time to hear the end of McGonagall's speech. Dumbledore then muttered a few words to McGonagall before opening the doors to the great hall and walking down the hall to his seat at the front of the room. The other students stared at this unusual behaviour before looking back at the doors to witness the entrance of the first years.

McGonagall strode to the front of the room and lifted the Sorting Hat onto the stool where it began to recite its annual song.

 _Hogwarts long ago began_

 _when founders four agreed;_

 _wizard children everywhere_

 _should learn how to succeed._

 _Through dark and danger,_

 _time and space,_

 _the students have arrived._

 _To on this day be sorted_

 _into their rightful house._

 _Whether be it Gryffindor;_

 _where those of courage dost reside,_

 _or even yet great Slytherin;_

 _for those with secrets yet to hide._

 _Perhaps, yet old Ravenclaw;_

 _with wisdom great, behold,_

 _or lastly, lovely Hufflepuff;_

 _with loyalty be told._

 _Now step on up,_

 _young wizard kin,_

 _your future will be told._

 _Or in the case of one,_

 _your past may be remold._

Wish shivered at the hat's veiled references to her time travelling, but before she had much time to dwell on it, Professor McGonagall began calling up first years.


	2. Chapter 2

Author Note: Thank you to everyone who followed, favourited, and reviewed this story! I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter.

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"Abbot, Hannah!" McGonagall called out.

A small, blonde girl approached the hat warily. The hat covered her face and, after a short moment, it shouted "HUFFLEPUFF!" The girl made her way to the appropriate table as the older Hufflepuffs cheered. After she was seated, Mcgonagall continued to call out names.

"Bones, Susan!" she called.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" said the hat, and Susan took her place next to Hannah.

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Brocklehurst, Mandy!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

Brown, Lavender!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Bulstrode, Millicent!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Finnigan, Seamus!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Granger, Hermione!"

Wish's eyes followed her soon-to-be Gryffindor grandmother as Hermione went up to the stool with the hat. _Wow, granny sure looks different at this age_ , Wish thought.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat proclaimed.

"Greengrass, Daphne!"

Again, Wish stared at her relative, her great aunt, as Daphne was sorted into Slytherin.

A few more names were called until "Longbottom, Neville!" who was sorted into Gryffindor after a few minutes of deliberation.

Next was Wish's grandfather's turn. The platinum blonde haired boy walked up to the sorting hat and plopped it on his head cockily.

"SLYTHERIN!" the hat shouted the instant the boy's head came near it. Draco Malfoy smirked and pranced off towards the Slytherin table as Wish stared in confusion at her grandfather's behaviour.

Then it was her turn. "Malfoy, Wish!" called McGonagall.

Draco stopped abruptly before he reached the table and spun around, watching the girl with wavy, strawberry blonde hair who, for some unknown reason, shared his surname.

Wish was nervous now, as she approached the hat and placed it on her head.

"Hmmm," said the hat. "Our little time traveller."

" _It's not like I travelled back in time on_ purpose," Wish thought-spoke to the hat.

The hat merely chuckled in response and began deliberating over what house Wish should be in.

"Hmmm," said the hat again, "so what house do you want to be in?"

" _Isn't that supposed to be_ your _job_?" said Wish snarkily.

"Ah, how right you are."

"SLYTHERIN!" shouted the hat to the entire hall.

Before Wish could take the hat off, the hat muttered some last words to her.

"There is a way to go back to your time, Wish. You must be where you were when you were sent back. Good luck with the current Malfoys. Oh, and by the way, nice name." The hat chuckled as Wish threw it down upon the stool.

She made her way over to the Slytherin table, where Draco was still standing in confusion. "Who are you?" he asked. Wish refused to answer and sat down in silence, trying to figure out what the hat meant. She was so lost in thought she missed the sorting of her other grandfather, Ron, into Gryffindor, and her Gryffindor grandparents' best friend, the famous Harry Potter, also into Gryffindor. Wish snapped to attention as Dumbledore clapped his hands after the final first year was sorted, and the feast appeared before them.

Draco continued to pester Wish about who she was throughout the feast, but Wish persistently ignored her future grandfather until Draco grabbed her and nearly yelled in her face "WHY DO YOU HAVE THE SAME LAST NAME AS ME?"

"Oh, because I'm from the future and you're my grandfather," she said sarcastically.

Draco left her alone after that, obviously the girl was insane.

Later, the Slytherin prefects led the first years to their dorms. Wish was sharing a dorm room with the rest of the Slytherin girls, Millicent Bulstrode, Pansy Parkinson, Tracey Davis, and Daphne Greengrass. Pansy and Millicent were almost as chatty as those girls Wish met on the boats to the castle, so Wish made her way over to where Tracey and Daphne were quietly discussing something. They fell silent as Wish approached, and stared at her suspiciously.

"Hi, I'm Wish," said Wish.

"We know," said Tracey. "What we want to know is why we've never heard of a female Malfoy the same age as Draco before now."

"Umm, that's kind of complicated," said Wish.

"Well uncomplicate it," said Tracey.

"I'm kind of tired, actually," Wish said as she headed towards one of the beds. "Goodnight!" Wish closed the drapes around the bed and wondered what she would do in the morning. She had no textbooks with her, luckily she'd been wearing her Hogwarts robes and had her wand with her the day she was transported to this time. She would have to go speak to Dumbledore in the morning before anyone woke up. She slowly drifted into odd dreams where her brothers were yelling at her as though they didn't know who she was.


	3. Chapter 3

Wish had been shouting at the gargoyle guarding Dumbledore's office for the past half hour. The password from yesterday had proved ineffective, and Wish's voice was becoming scratchy from overuse. Exhausted, she slid down the wall across from the gargoyle and glared at it.

Just then, Severus Snape walked towards the gargoyle, and was about to say the password when he spun around and saw Wish crouching on the floor.

"Ah, our little time traveller, what are you doing wandering around the halls at this early hour of the morning," he said.

"I have to speak to— wait you know I'm from the future?" said Wish.

"Yes, the headmaster felt it necessary to inform the staff of this matter. Acid Pops."

"Wha—?" Wish started, but paused as she noticed the gargoyle moving aside, realizing 'Acid Pops' must have been the password. She mentally slapped herself for not trying the plural of Acid Pop as she followed Snape up the winding staircase.

"Enter," said the benign voice of the headmaster as Snape knocked on the door. "Ah, Severus and Miss Malfoy, what can I do for you both."

"I was searching for Miss Malfoy here, who had left the common room this morning without informing anyone. I found her outside your office, evidently wishing to speak with you," replied Snape.

"And Wish? What may I do for you?" asked Dumbledore.

"Oh, um, I realized last night that I don't have any textbooks or clothes other than my Hogwarts robes with me," said Wish. "And I was also wondering if anyone's figured out a way to send me back yet," she added softly.

Dumbledore gazed at her with twinkling yet strangely comforting eyes. "I have let the professors know of your dilemma and can assure you that they are searching everything for a solution. As for your first quandary, there are a few spare textbooks we can lend you, and I will get a professor to pick up some clothes from Hogsmeade for you." He summoned the first year textbooks to his office and put them in a bookbag. "Now, breakfast starts in a few minutes, I suggest you head to the great hall," he said, handing Wish the bag.

"Thanks, Professor Dumbledore," Wish said, leaving the office.

"Severus," said Dumbledore after the door had closed behind Wish, "Why did you really come to see me?"

Wish sat by herself at the end of the Slytherin table, hoping to avoid interacting with her grandfather or really any of the Slytherins. Near the end of breakfast, Snape came by, handing out timetables. They had Transfiguration first this morning. Wish got out her Transfiguration textbook and started reading the first lesson, how to change matches into needles. Before she knew it, she was halfway through the book and Daphne was tapping her on the shoulder. Wish look up abruptly.

"What?" she said.

"It's time to go to class," said Daphne. "You don't want to be late for Transfiguration, McGonagall will take points off Slytherin," she finished before walking away haughtily.

Wish caringly put the textbook back in her bag and hurried off after the rest of the Slytherin first years.

They reached the Transfiguration classroom five minutes before class started and found seats on the left side of the room. A couple Gryffindors were already seated. Hermione at the front and Neville in the middle of the right side of the room. Wish took a seat next to her grandmother. The rest of the Gryffindors trickled into the room just before McGonagall arrived. They sat as far away from the Slytherins as possible.

McGonagall glanced around the room as she read out the names, then she proceeded to warn the students how Transfiguration could be dangerous, and ended her speech by turning her desk into a pig. A few whoops and cheers could be heard from the Gryffindor side, obviously they were impressed by their Head of House's magical prowess.

The students were then given matches and were tasked with changing them into needles. By the end of the lesson only Wish and Hermione were able to make the matches silver and pointy, and McGonagall praised the both of them, showing their work to the rest of the class.

As the class ended, Wish headed to the library, hoping to get some more studying in and avoid her housemates.


	4. Chapter 4

Wish collapsed on her bed after her exhausting first day of classes. She used her wand to close the drapes around the bed and cast a simple intruder deterrent and silencing charm that she'd found in a library book. She noticed a package resting on her pillow and opened it, discovering the clothes she'd requested. After taking out some pyjamas, she shoved the package under her bed, seeing as she had no trunk with her. She quickly got dressed in her pyjamas and fell asleep.

The next morning at breakfast an owl swooped down at her, depositing a note in front of her.

 _Miss Malfoy,_

 _Please come to my office after your classes today._

 _Headmaster Dumbledore_

 _P. S. I enjoy eating Sherbet Lemons_

Wish wondered what Dumbledore could want to talk to her about throughout all her classes for the rest of the day, and was so distracted she didn't notice her grandfather sitting down next to her in Charms.

"I'll have you know I memorized my family tree at the age of five and you are definitely not on it, so who are you?" said Draco.

Wish was jerked out of her thoughts and quickly turned to look at her grandfather.

"I did tell you the truth, you know," she said.

"What, that you're my granddaughter from the future? Ha, that couldn't be true. Your hair isn't platinum blonde. You're obviously just pretending to be a Malfoy. You're probably just some mudblood who wants the Malfoy money —" Draco was interrupted by Wish pointing her wand at his throat.

"Don't you dare use that word, grandfather. You of all people should—"

"Miss Malfoy," said Professor Flitwick in his squeaky voice, "I don't believe Mr. Malfoy is the feather you are supposed to be levitating. Please refrain from threatening other students in the classroom. Five points from Slytherin."

Draco shot Wish a smirk as she lowered her wand.

"And Mr. Malfoy, language of that kind will not be tolerated in this school. Five points from Slytherin and detention after class," Flitwick added.

Now it was Wish's turn to smirk at her grandfather as he glowered at her and Flitwick.

Finally the class was over with only Wish succeeding in levitating the feather, earning her praise and five points for Slytherin from Flitwick, cancelling out her earlier points lost, and earning more glares from her grandfather.

Wish hurried up to Dumbledore's office, saying "Sherbet Lemons" as she reached the gargoyle. She climbed the stairs and knocked on the headmaster's door.

"Come in," she heard Dumbledore say from within his office.

She entered. "Ah, Wish, have a seat, child," said Dumbledore.

Wish sat on the same comfy-looking chair Dumbledore had conjured last time. "Why did you want to see me, sir?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm assuming you wish to return to your time eventually, am I correct?"

"Yes, of course," said Wish. She hesitated, then said "Sir, the sorting hat said there was a way to get back, but I would need to be where I was before I was sent back in time."

Dumbledore looked pensive. "May I ask where you were when you were sent back?" he said.

"In a room in Malfoy Manor. I can't really remember which room. One of the lounge rooms, I think. I'd never been there before."

"Hm, perhaps this room was infused with some time travel magic at some point in time. The problem is getting there in this time period. I would suggest befriending your ancestor Draco and perhaps obtaining an invitation to the Manor for the winter holidays and searching for the room then. Until then, try not to divulge too many secrets about the future, we don't know how much could change. If you say too much, you might not even be born. Now it's getting late, you should head back to your house dormitory now."

Wish left, trying to figure out how she was going to befriend her grandfather who, for some reason, was so mean in this time period.


	5. Chapter 5

"Draco!" Wish called out.

Her grandfather turned around at the end of the corridor they were standing in.

"Did I give you permission to use my first name, _granddaughter_?"

"Actually no, but I assumed that you'd prefer that to me calling you grandpa."

"What do you want, mudblood?"

Wish glared at him. "I told you not to use that word. And I'm not a muggleborn."

"Whatever. You still haven't given me your reason for yelling my name."

"Look, to be honest, I just want to go back home to my own time, and it seems the only way to do that might be to go back to the room that I was in before I was sent back in time. So seeing as we both want me to leave, I'd recommend inviting me over to Malfoy Manor for the winter break so that I can find the room and leave."

"Fine. But you're going to have to explain all this to my parents."

"Great." Wish held out her hand for Draco to shake. He looked at it in disgust for a few moments before hesitantly shaking it.

"You'd better not be a mud—" Wish glared at him. Draco rolled his eyes. "Fine. Muggleborn. I don't want to get any muggle germs on me."

Wish stalked off, laughing hysterically.


	6. Chapter 6

_Why is it so hard to just keep my mouth shut_ , thought Wish, recalling the mishap earlier in the day.

Wish had been studying in the library when her grandmother, Hermione, came in and sat at the same table as her. Hermione had seemed rather upset, so Wish had asked what was wrong. This had turned out to be a bad idea, as it had ended up with Wish becoming friends with her grandmother.

Now Wish lay in her bed with the drapes closed as usual, wondering how much this could affect her future. _What if Hermione never becomes friends with Ron and Harry? Then again_ , she thought, perhaps it wouldn't affect _her_ future, perhaps it was more of the alternate timeline version of time travel rather than the version achieved by time turners where everything must happen the same way it originally had or bad things would happen.

Wish considered the various forms of time travel until the multitudes of paradoxes caused her to fall asleep.

The next morning, a fisher went fishing. It was unknown as to why a fisher was fishing in the lake. Perhaps they wished to catch the giant squid, although why they would be attempting such a feat with so puny a fishing rod was beyond the mental grasp of any who might have stumbled upon this fisher. Fortunately, no one else was around.

Wish awoke from her slumber far later than she normally would have. So late, in fact, that she realized she had missed her first class. She hurried to the great hall to see if there was any breakfast left so she could eat something before her next class. She arrived and froze, realizing that there were pumpkins all over the place. _It must be Halloween_ , she thought. She was distracted for the rest of the day, barely paying attention when Ron insulted Hermione and Hermione rushed off crying. Wish was too worried about the troll and whether or not Ron, Harry, and Hermione would become friends.

Finally it was time for the dreaded Halloween feast. Wish sat alone at the Slytherin table as usual. Her housemates continued to mistrust her as she refused to tell them her relation to Draco. She had barely touched her food when the great hall doors burst open and Quirrell dramatically flung himself through them, panting out "TROLL! TROLL IN THE DUNGEONS!" before fainting pathetically.

Wish kept an eye on Harry and Ron as Dumbledore ordered the students back to their houses. She quickly snuck away from her housemates and followed the boys. Unfortunately, Ron noticed her following them after a while.

"What are you doing here, snake?" he asked abrasively.

Wish arched an eyebrow. "Helping you rescue Hermione, of course. She _is_ my friend, or did you really think she had no friends, Ronald?"

Ron was about to retort, but Harry grabbed his arm saying "Come on, we don't have time for this, we have to find Hermione."

The threesome wandered the halls until they smelled a horrible scent and saw the troll lumber into a room. Harry noticed a key in the lock, and mentioned this, suggesting they could lock the troll in, but Wish quickly shot this idea down. "That's the girl's bathroom," she said. "Hermione's in there."

The boys shared a horrified look at the realisation that if Wish hadn't been there they would've locked the troll in with their housemate. Instead, they slowly and silently crept towards the door and into the bathroom. They immediately heard a shriek and rushed in faster. Hermione was frozen in terror, the troll advancing.

Wish started yodelling loudly. The boys looked at her oddly, but her tactics were successful in distracting the troll from attacking Hermione. The boys also started making loud noises. Unfortunately, this just caused the troll to head towards them. The children with the exception of Hermione, who was still frozen in terror, started running around the troll until Harry jumped on it, shoving his wand up the beast's nose.

It screamed horribly in pain, flailing its limbs and club around in agony, until Ron said the first spell that came to mind: " _Wingardium Leviosa,_ " and the club rose into the air and descended upon the troll's head, knocking it unconscious. Harry retrieved his wand from the beast's nose and jumped down, wiping the wand on the troll's trousers.

Suddenly the four children heard running footsteps, and Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrell came running into the bathroom. They took in the sight of the children, looking moderately impressed at the same time as disappointed that the children had not followed orders and gone to their common rooms.

When asked what had happened, Hermione told some story about going off to fight the troll on her own and Harry, Ron, and Wish had luckily noticed and come after her. Ron was not very good at hiding his shock, but Hermione got five points taken away and Ron, Harry, and Wish each got five points for their houses for successfully knocking out the troll.

"Come with me, Wish," said Snape, after McGonagall had given out the points. Wish glanced back at the trio, hoping they would still become friends despite her interference, then followed after Snape.


End file.
